Jordan: Ancient Civilizations, a Shrinking Sea and Noisy Neighbors

Petra--at last!
Oh you lucky ducks--I've wanted to experience Petra forever! It sounds both extraordinary and awful--riding the donkeys through the gauntlet of hawkers seemed rather hellish--times like that, I put on my IPOD, so I don't even hear them. On the other hand, while I knew Petra had been carved out of the rock, I had no idea they, " started carving from up above and worked their way down." What incredible skill and planning! Your photos of it are fantastic, as were your other adventures there. How great to go first to Petra with all the hiking and then end up with massages and floating in the Dead Sea.

Jordan
Great writing and pictures. A former Valley nurse worked as nanny to the current King of Jordan. She always spoke highly of the country and its people.

Willing Subjects
Thanks to MJ, my taste for middle eastern food was kindled. It would be our pleasure to partake of your Jordanian cooking! No mud pics? Dave the floater didn't look to slimy at all! Keep on enjoying! C

Fascinating Place
Great to read your blog, brought back memories of when we were there in the early 90s. They had just a few donkeys then to take you up the mountain and I can remember mine heading off ahead of all the others and it got quite scary with some of the drops so I insisted on getting off and walked the rest of the way ... ... We were lucky though as there were no persistent hawkers there at that time, its a shame this has now changed as Petra is a magical place and great to enjoy in peace and solitude - keep enjoying your travels xx

Petras Kitchen
Hope you didn't have to clean the dishes at the end of the night. Shame about the hawkers, we were there 15 years ago and they were fairly persistent then and sound like they have got a lot worse. We were annoyed at the number of children selling stuff and the treatment of the animals. As always, great blog and fantastic photos, looking forward to the next.

A thoroughly enjoyable read!
Thanks, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your trip. Sounds like you had a blast. Jordan, Petra specifically is on my bucket list, I'm so jealous and filled with wanderlust after seeing your photos. I hope to get there some day.

One of My Favorite Places
Petra is an amazing place. I combated the hawkers by spending several days getting off of the beaten path. They were overwhelming at the main sites, but at places like the snake monument, or the hidden staircases that crisscrossed the cliffs above the monuments they were mostly non-existent - I did find a hawker at the end of a long, narrow slot canyon at a remote end of the site one day, which was strange. Petra's Kitchen sounds amazing. I will have to check it out next time I am there. Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite places.

Hungry
All this talk of food is making me hungry, shame you guys are too far away for me to be a guinea pig. It seems I have some catching up to do as haven't read your Egypt blogs. I love your Jordan blog and what a lovely photo of you both.

Samantha says
Samantha has been ministering to me while you have been away. "I'm looking for a place to call, I'm looking for a place to call..." she says, "Nothing can compare," Wow you guys. I think you've found it!!!

Its always nice to go back and reread a blog from your fellow travelers. Compare notes! Thank you for inspiring me to visit Jordan.